Oro-tracheal tube positioner and retainer



1954 J. w. PHILLIPS ORO-TRACHEAL TUBE POSITIONER AND RETAINER Filed Sept. 9, I953 INVENTOR. JOHN W. P/l/ZL/PS Unitedhtates Patent ORO-TRACHFJAL TUBE POSITIONER AND RETAINER John W. Phillips, Los Angeles, Calif. Application September 9, 1953, Serial No. 37 9,224 3 Claims. (Cl. 128-208) as a bite block or mouth prop in protective relationship with respect to the inserted tube, and usually in fixed relationship in respect to the patients mouth and face. This is usually done with adhesive tape or the like and while both fixing the tube in position and preventing occlusion of the tube by the patients teeth (and/or jaws), has the disadvantage of making it very difiicult to adjust the depth of the tube within the trachea and difiicult to adjust the tube to any selected lateral position in the mouth of the patient (usually to provide convenient access thereinto for other purposes). Therefore, it will be seen that this prior art practice has serious disadvantages.

Generally speaking, the device of the present invention comprises an oral (or ore-tracheal) tube positioner and retainer including a body member having a projecting mouth-insertion member and a mouth-abutting flange member positioned effectively across one end of said insertion member. Bore means extends through said mouth-abutting flange member and said projecting mouthinsertion member and is adaptable to receive therethrough a hollow tube. (usually a hollow flexible oro-tracheal tube). Also included is an adjustable chuck in cooperable relationship with respect to said bore means and including an annular inclined inner surface means adjacent said bore means, constrictable engaging ring means in cooperative relationship with respect to said inclined surface means, and selectively manually advanceable ring abutting means in abutting relationship with respect to said constrictable engaging ring means whereby said ring means can be selectively caused to move along said annular inclined surface means in a constricting manner adapted to firmly position and retain a tube passing through said bore means, and whereby said ring means can be selectively caused to move along said annular inclined surface means in an enlarging and releasing manner adapted to release said tube.

In one preferred general form of the present invention, the projecting mouth-insertion member comprises an enlarged portion connected by a reduced sized neck to the mouth-abutting flange member. In this form of the invention, theenlarged portion of the mouth-insertion member is effectivelynarrower in one direction than in another direction (in diameters virtually perpendicular to the bore means) whereby to effectively provide mouth retaining means on the mouth-insertion member (also insertion facilitating means); said mouth retaining means comprising the portion of greater diameter of said insertion memberadjacent the reduced sized neck, which can be laterally (or transversely) positioned during insertion of the insertion member between the upper and lower teeth of a patient to facilitate insertion, and which can then be rotated into vertical retaining position behind said teeth. Q

Also, in one preferred general form ofthe present invention, the selectively manually advanceable ring 2,693,182 Patented Nov. 2, 1954 abutting means of the adjustable chuck means comprises a centrally apertured abutting member in threaded relationship with respect to said bore means and provided with an abutting annular rim adapted to abut said ring means on the opposite side thereof from the region of greatest diameter of said inclined surface means.

Also, in one preferred general form of the present invention, the constrictable ring means comprises toroidal spring means slidably positioned with respect to said inclined surface means.

From the above description of the basic form and several generic aspects of the present invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art and virtually all of the hereinabove-mentioned prior art disadvantages are virtually entirely eliminated and overcome in and through the use of the present invention.

For example, it is obvious that the adjustable chuck means of the present invention makes possible quick and easy adjustment and maintenance of the effective longitudinal position of a tube with respect to the device of the present invention. It also provides positive locking of said tube in a selected relative position, and quick and easy releasing thereof when desired.

It is also obvious that the device of the present invention provides means for quick, easy, and positive retaining engagement thereof with the teeth and mouth of a patient-and for quick disengagement thereof, when desired.

The features of the present invention set forth in the preceding two paragraphs combine to provide quick and easy adjustment and maintenance of the depth of an oro-tracheal tube with respect to the trachea of the patient. It also provides positive locking of said tube in a selected position, and quick and easy releasing thereof when desired.

It is also apparent that the device of the present invention may be freely laterally shifted in a patients mouth, thus allowing free lateral mobility of a tube carried by the device of the present invention so that said tube and said device of the present invention may be shifted from side-to-side in the patients mouth at the will of the operator.

The device of the present invention also effectively provides means for preventing the patients teeth from coming into contact with a tube carried by the device of the resent invention, thus preventing compression and obstruction of the tube by the patients teeth (or jaws).

With the above points in mind, .it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel oral (and/ or orotracheal) tube positioner and retainer adapted to-prevent compression and obstruction of the tube by a patients teeth or jaw; adapted to anchor the tube in a patients mouth; adapted to provide for quick and easy adjustment and maintenance of depth of the tube with respect to a patients trachea; and adapted to allow free lateral mobility in a patients mouth so that the tube may be shifted laterally as may be required.

Other'and allied objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art after a careful perusal, examination and study of the accompanying illustrations, the present specification, and the appended claims.

To facilitate understanding, reference will be made to the hereinbelow described drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of one illustrative form of the present invention; and

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view of the device shown in Fig. 1 in fully assembled relationship as it would appear if viewed in the direction of the arrows II-II in Fig. 1. The constricting ring is shown in nonengaged position with respect to the tube; and

Fig. 3 is a view similar in aspect to Fig. 2 but is partly in elevation and partly in vertical section. Also in this view the constricting ring is shown in engaged relationship with respect to the tube; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary, reduced-sized view showing the device of the present invention in insertion relationship with respect to a patients mouth. It also shows the constricting ring in non-engaged position with respect to the tube; and

Fig. 5 is a view similar in aspect to Fig. 4, but it shows the device after having been rotated through approxi- 3. mately 90' degrees from the insertion position shown in Fig. 4 into the retaining position shown in Fig. 5. It also shows the constricting ring in engaged relationship with respect to the tube.

It should be noted that all of. the above described figures appear in upright position in the sheet of drawings. This is so merely for reason of convenience and does not necessarily mean that anesthesia would be administered to a patient oriented as shown. in the figures. In fact, usually anesthesia would be administered to a reclining' patient-and under such circumstances all of the above figures would. be rotated counter-clockwise approximately 90 degrees.

Generally speaking, the tube positioner and: retainer of. the present invention includes a body member having a projecting mouth-insertion member and a mouthabutting flange member positioned effectively across one end of said insertion member. Bore means extends through said mouth-abutting fiangezrnember and said projecting mouth-insertion member-and is. adapted to receive therethrough a hollow tube (usually a hollow flexible ore-tracheal tube).

In the specific example illustrated, the mouth-insertion member is indicated generally at 1, the mouth-abutting flange member is indicated generally at 2, and the bore means is indicated generally at 3.

In the specific example illustrated, the projecting mouth-insertion member 1 comprises an enlarged portion 4 connected by a reduced-sized neck 5 to the flange member 2. In this form of the invention, the enlarged portion 4 of the mouth-insertion member 1 is effectively narrower in one direction than in another direction. As illustrated, this comprises two opposed flats (one of which is shown at 6 in Figs. 1, 3 and 5 and the other of which is hidden from view in all of the figures except Fig. 4). This arrangement efiectively provides mouth retaining means on the mouth-insertion member comprising the portion 4-4 of greatest diameter adjacent the reduced-sized neck 5, which can be laterally positioned, as shown in Fig. 4 during insertion of the insertion member between the upper and lower teeth 7 of the patient, and which can then be rotated through. approximately 90 degrees into vertical retaining position behind said teeth as shown in Fig. 5.

Also generally speaking, the device of the present invention includes an adjustable chuck in cooperable rela tionship with respect to the bore means and having an annular inclined surface means adjacent said bore means, constrictable engagingv ring means in cooperative relationship with respect to said inclined annular surface means, and selectively manually advanceable ring abutting means in abutting relationship with respect to said constrictable engaging ring means whereby said ring means can be selectively caused to move along said annular inclined surface means in a constricting manner adapted to firmly position and retain a tube passing through the bore means, and whereby said ring means can be selectively caused to move along said annular inclined surface means in an enllarging and releasing manner adapted to release said tu e.

In the specific example illustrated, the annular inclined surface means is an efiective extension of the bore means 3 and is positioned in the flange means 2, as indicated at 8, and is provided with a non-inclined annular recess 9 normally adapted to contain the constrictable ring means 10 when in non-engaged position with respect to a tube, such as the tube 11 (as best shown in Fig. 2).

In the specific example illustrated, the selectively manually advanceable ring means comprises an abutting member, indicated generally at 12, centrally apertured at 13 and provided with an exteriorly threaded abutting annular rim 14. The end of said annular ring 14 is adapted to abut against the ring means 10 and to cause it to be selectively positioned at any desired location along the annular inclined surface 8 by means of the threaded engagement of the exterior of the annular rim means 14 with the interiorly threaded projection 15 carried by the flange 2.

In the specific form of the invention illustrated, the constrictable ring means 10'comprises a toroidal spring.

The operation of the device may be briefly described as follows: The exploded components shown in Fig. 1 are assembled together in the position shown in Fig. 2 and the entire device is rotated through approximately 90 degrees to place the flats 6 in the same relative positions as shown in Fig. 4. Then the mouth-insertion memher 1 is inserted through the upper and lower teeth 7,. as shown in Fig. 4, and the flange 2 is rotated approximately degrees so as to rotate the mouth-insertion member 1 into the retaining position shown in Fig. 5. The tube 11 is inserted to a desired depth and the abutting member 12 is threadedly advance within the annular projection 15 so as to cause the abutting rim 14 to force the constricting ring 10 inwardly along the annular inclined' surface 8 into fastening engagement with respect to the tube 11 (as best shown in Fig. 3). The entire device will then. be in operative relationship with respect to the patients mouth and will maintain the tube 11 in a desired inserted relationship with. respect tov the patients trachea and will allow free lateral shifting of the reducedsized neck 5 with respect to the patients teeth 7 and will further provide adequate protection against occlusion of the tube 11 by the patients teeth 7.

Whenever it is desired to readjust the insertion depth of the tube 11, this can bedone easily by merely threadedly retracting the abutting member 12 and the abutting rim 14 from the position shown in- Fig. 3 into the position shown in Fig. 2, then longitudinally readjust-mg; the tube 11, and then threadedly advancing the. abutting member 12' and the abutting rim 14 from the position shown in Fig. 2 into the position shown in-Fig. 3.

Whenever it is desired to entirely remove the device from the patients mouth, this can be done by manually rotating the flange 2 through approximately 90 degrees from the position shown in Fig. 5 into the position shown in Fig. 4, and then withdrawing the insertion member 1 from the patients mouth.

Numerous modifications and variations of the present invention will occur to those skilled in the art after a careful study hereof. All such properly within the basic spirit and scope of the present invention are intended to be included and comprehended herein as fully as if specifically described, illustrated and claimed herein.

For example, the exact configurations of the mouthinsertion member, the mouth-abutting flange member, the annular inclined surface means, the constrictable ring means and the manually advanceable ring abutting means are not critical and can be modified somewhat from the specific forms disclosed herein without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

Furthermore, while the portions of the present invention, exclusive of the constrictable ring means, may preferably be made of a material such as Lucite (acrylic resin), or other suitable material sutficiently strong to support screw threads, and sulficiently resilient to preclude damage to a patients teeth, various other materials or combinations of materials may be employed.

It should also be noted that the constrictable ring means does not necessarily take the form of a toroidal spring but may comprise any suitable type of constrictable member capable of constrictable cooperation with an annular inclined surface, or the equivalent.

The exact compositions, configurations, constructions, relative positionings, and cooperative relationships of the various component parts of the present invention are not critical, and can be modified substantially within the spirit of the present invention.

The embodiment of the present invention specifically described and illustrated herein is exemplary only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, which is to be interpreted in the light of the prior art and the appended claims only, with due consideration for the doctrine of equivalents.

I claim:

I. An oral tube positioner and-retainer comprising: a body member including a projecting mouthdnsertion member and a mouth-abutting flange member positioned effectively across one end of said insertion member; bore means extending through said mouth-abutting flange member and said projecting mouth-insertion member and adapted to receive therethrough a hollow tube; an adjustable chuck in cooperable relationship with respect to said bore means and including an annular inclined inner surface means adjacent said bore means, constrictable engaging ring means in cooperative relationship with said inclined surface means, and selectively manually advanccable ring abutting means in abutting relationship with said constrictable engaging ring means whereby said ring means can be selectively moved along saidannular inclined surface means in aconstricting manneradapted to firmly position and retain a tube passing through said bore means, and whereby said ring means can be selectively moved along said annular inclined surface means in an enlarging and releasing manner adapted to release said tube.

2. A device of the character defined in claim 1 wherein the projecting mouth-insertion member comprises an enlarged portion and a reduced sized neck connected to the mouth-abutting flange member; and wherein the enlarged portion of the mouth-insertion member is etfectively narrower thereacross in one direction than in another direction whereby to effectively provide mouth retaining means on the mouth-insertion member comprising the portion of greatest diameter of said insertion member adjacent the reduced sized neck, which can be laterally positioned during insertion of the insertion member between the teeth of a patient and which can be 6 Y theiit1 rotated into vertical retaining position behind said teet 3. A device of the character defined in claim 2 wherein the selectively manually advanceable ring abutting means of the adjustable chuck means comprises a centrally apertured abutting member in threaded relationship with respect to said bore means and provided with an abutting rirn abutting said ring means on the opposite side thereof from the region of greatest diameter of said inclined surface means; and wherein the constrictable ring means comprises toroidal spring means slidably positioned with respect to said inclined surface means.

No references cited. 

